Shhh
by notdonewithyou
Summary: Emma comes back to the docks to let Hook loose after holding him on the Jolly Roger. Set after the events of "The Miller's Daughter" before the events in "Welcome to Storybrooke" take place.


Emma looked over her shoulder for the fifth time as she finally made it to the docks of Storybrooke. With all of the drama of the last week, she hadn't been able to make it down. When she was finally convinced she hadn't been followed, she walked to the very end of the dock and sat down, feet dangling barely above the water. The smell of the sea and the brisk cool air coming off of it took over her senses for a moment. She closed her eyes for a few moments and just allowed herself to be calm after all the stress had built up.

She opened her eyes, and her gaze moved to the ship, the waves lapping lazily at the hull. She sighed heavily, pulling herself up from the dock, walking to the gangplank and making her way onto the ship. She was still surprised at how beautiful the ship was. She remembered reading about it in her book as a kid, but she never imagined she'd be standing on the deck of the Jolly Roger or going down into the holds of it.

She made her way down to what she figured out was the brig of the ship. When she'd first inspected the ship, it was the place with all of the chains attached to the wall, so she knew it would be the perfect place to hide him. No one could know he was on the ship with them. While she'd been tying him to the radiator, he'd informed her that the ship wouldn't sail without him aboard, and she cursed herself for not remembering that part of the tale. She'd taken him to the ship before any of the others and successfully chained him in his still injured state. She'd brought him some food he'd had stored on the ship and placed it within his reach. "You can lead a horse to water," she'd muttered to herself.

She stood outside the door to the brig for at least twenty minutes. She knew she had to go in and let him out eventually. She just knew that it meant dealing with him out in the open again, and she had no idea how he'd react once he found out the entirety of the situation. His showing up in Manhattan had frustrated her to no end. She'd left Storybrooke to keep Gold from killing him, something she still couldn't explain to herself, but he'd had to track them down and give Gold another reason to keep the cycle of revenge going. She took a deep breath before pushing the door to the brig open, quickly gaining the attention of the captain sitting up against the wall, still chained.

He gave her a tightlipped smile. "And the princess finally graces me with her presence. To what do I owe the pleasure? Come to make sure I didn't pick the lock, darling?"

Emma leaned against a crate. "I came to make sure you were still alive." She nodded toward the open crates next to him as she approached. "I see you ate."

Hook gave her a breathy laugh. "I don't completely have a death wish, love. Especially now that my revenge was once again thwarted, I presume."

She squatted down, taking the keys from her back pocket and holding out her hand for him to take. "Gold is still alive, yes. He's not so worried about you, though. Still thinks you're in New York."

"Well, lucky me," he said, sticking his hand in hers. It was an eerily familiar situation, yet new, situation for him. The last time, he'd reached out for her and had ended up chained to a beanstalk. Now here, it was the opposite, and she was setting him free. Once the manacle was off his wrist, he wasted no time in placing it around hers and quickly snatching the keys from her hand. "Look at that," he said, throwing the keys across the room. "I've caught myself a Swan."

Emma's eyes widened as she promptly tried to pull the manacle from her wrist. "Hook! What are you doing?" She pushed him back against the wall and took a little pleasure in the grimace that crossed his face.

"You and I are going to have a chat," he said, spinning them around so that her back was pressed against the side of the ship. She started to push at him, but he held her arms against the wall with his hand and hook. "You left with the Crocodile. And while I'm grateful for you making him vulnerable without his magic, you brought him back to be saved. Why?"

Emma looked away and pushed against his grip, but it was like a vice. "What does it matter, Hook?"

Hook glared at her, his voice dropping low. "Because, Swan, you've put yourself in the way of my vengeance _again_, and I can't say I'm particularly fond of that." He pushed harder on her arms. "Now tell me why!"

"God, I owed Gold a favor!"

Hook froze, but his grip held firm. The last person he knew that made a deal with him had died in his arms, and he couldn't do anything about it. "That's a dangerous thing, Swan."

Emma rolled her eyes. "It was before I knew about all of this fairytale shit, okay? I made a deal with him before I knew who he was. He wanted me to take him across the town line to find his son, since I'm the only person in town who has knowledge of what it's like out there."

"Baelfire? He wanted you to find him?"

Emma looked anywhere but at him, still avoiding his eyes. "Yeah. He told me that he knew you. I'm guessing he spent some time in Neverland before coming here."

Hook focused on a spot beside her head, going back in his head. "He was in Neverland before I went back there and gone a few years before I left." He turned back to her and realized she wasn't looking at him. "You're not telling me the whole truth, Swan."

She did her best to put on a straight face for him, meeting his eyes. "He threatened to kill my whole family if I didn't go with him."

He could still see a glint of deception behind her eyes, and he was getting frustrated. "My patience in this conversation is wearing thin, Emma. Why. Did. You. Go. With. Him?"

"That's why I went."

"Swan, what the fuck happened that was so bad that you won't-"

Emma huffed and pushed hard against his grip finally breaking free. "He was going to kill you, okay?! I fucking left to protect _you_! 'Every minute I'm here is a minute closer to me killing Hook.' That's what he told me! Is that what you wanted to hear? Because it's true." She shoved him in the chest as he gaped at her, shocked. "But you couldn't leave well enough alone and had to sail this damn ship there! Everything was fine, and I was going to figure out what to do with you when we got back." She felt him grab her wrists when he took a step forward. "You're so centered on your revenge that you couldn't think for one damn second I cared about your safety." Her fists went chest, not caring that he was still injured. "_Stupid fucking pirate_!" she repeated over and over as she pounded on his chest.

Hook had started absorbing her words after she quoted Gold, shocked by what he heard. He wasn't expecting that kind of admission from her, especially not with the wall he knew she had. It wasn't until the pain in his chest registered with the rest of him that she was still yelling. He grabbed her wrists again. "Emma!" He yelled, trying to stop her movements. "Emma! Stop, love!" He finally got her calm enough, both of their breathing ragged from the physical exertion. "You left…to protect me?" he asked, his face unbelieving.

"Yes! God, you idiot! And then you had to go and ruin it by showing up in New York."

He kept talking like she'd never said anything, looking her dead in the eyes. "No one… No one's cared about me in 300 years…"

Emma's gaze faltered under his. "Well…" She stopped talking when she looked back up and he was leaning forward. "What are you doing?"

A genuine smile came across his face. "I was about to thank you," he replied, eyeing her lips, continuing to lean in.

Emma suddenly had butterflies in her stomach, nervous but didn't push him away. "Hook, what-"

"Shhh…" He closed the space between them, and his lips pressed against hers. He felt her tense for a second before immediately responding, sending a shock through him. If he'd known it would feel like this, he would've kissed her on the beanstalk.

Hook let go of her arms again, and they automatically went around his neck, pulling him closer. Their lips moved in tandem, and his hand dropped to her waist, splaying across the skin where her shirt was riding up. They both felt the little shocks shooting through them, and it took all of Emma's strength to tear herself away from his lips.

Her breathing was heavy, and her gaze was downward. "That…"

Hook chuckled. "Was one hell of a thank you?" he tried finishing for her.

Emma shook her head, pulling her gaze upward. "That…was different." She realized how heavy her arm was sitting on his shoulder, the manacle forgotten. She pulled it back and rattled it beside them. "You wanna let me go now?"

He'd forgotten as well and bent down to pick the keys up off the floor. "Aye. I can do that." He put the key in and let the manacle fall to the floor.

She rubbed her wrist once it was free, all the movement she'd done irritating it. She was shocked when he took it and began to rub it. "Thank you."

He smirked at her, before leaning in and placing another chaste kiss on her lips. "I believe that's what I just did." His gaze fell to her wrist. "It would probably be best if no one found out about this."

"Probably…," she said, her voice faltering. "I'm going to let you stay free on one condition. Don't go and do something stupid, like getting yourself killed."

"Wouldn't dream of it, love."

He walked her back out to the deck, and watched as she descended the gang plank and down the dock back towards town. The taste of her still lingered on his lips; the feel of her still on his fingertips. Though her form was retreating from him, he saw the Emma Swan behind the walls that day, and he knew she'd be back.


End file.
